Phantasy Star Zero- Hero's Tale
by Crysi102
Summary: Join the newman Malinar on his journey through the word of Phantasy Star Zero! Rated T to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

_"Once, there was prosperity._

_"Three tribes thrived of old, and gave birth to Divinity._

_"Then, there was war._

_"The rift between god and mortal cut through the tribes like a blade._

_"Then there was desolation._

_"A vast emptiness, and nothing more._

_"Two centuries went by…_

_"People survived, and pushed back against the edge of oblivion._

_"Until today…_

_"In the middle of a bright sky, a shadow covered the moon…_

_"...and the forgotten ones swooped down from the heavens."_

_-PSZ Prologue_

* * *

**_Phantasy Star Zero  
A Hero's Tale_**

* * *

The gentle lull of a heavy rain woke me. Someone was shouting, but I couldn't tell what they were yelling from inside the darkness of my hazy brain. I began drifting into the black again, but the thing I was in shifted, making it impossible for me to escape reality. The someone that was shouting a name was in front of me now, and the rain pattered onto my face. The restraints that held me in place were released, and the person pulled me from the capsule I'd been in.

_I know this voice. Who is it?_

"Soldier! Can you hear me?" The someone shouted. He was trying to wake me up, get me to respond. I tried to tell him I was okay, but my mouth wouldn't comply.

_What's going on?_

"If you're still alive, answer me!" The voice seemed fearful. I tried to reply, I really did, but I simply couldn't.

_Who am I? What am I doing here?_

"Get a medic over here!" The someone shouted. His voice was urgent, but why? I wasn't dying by going into the black, just resting.

_My body is numb. Why can't I feel it?_

"Don't you dare drift on me again! Stay awake!" A wave of energy washed over me, and I could feel for a second, but the sensation quickly faded and I shortly fell numb again.

_Why won't you let me sleep?_

"Again! Don't let him go!" The someone commanded as several consecutive waves of energy washed over me.

_I'm going to sleep for a bit. Wake me up soon._

"He's drifting! No!" The darkness swallowed me.

* * *

**A/N: so, I am really sorry about not updating on Saturday like I said I would! *feels bad* **

**in any case, here is my masterpiece~ I'm sorry if it doesn't cover everything in the story, I'm telling it from the main character's PoV... I'm pretty sure I've already messed up in some way... O.o"**

**anyway... I hope you enjoy this and the next chapter~ **

**disclaimer: I don't own Phantasy Star Zero or its characters. My OCs are Malinar, Twill, and k-Night, and they are based off the designs made in game. I only made their names and personalities. You cannot use my OCs without permission. Once again, I do not own anything but my OCs in this story, and even them not much... .**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: chapter two of the double update~ please enjoy!**

**disclaimer: I don't own Phantasy star zero, only my OCs.**

* * *

**SLAP!**

I gasped as the hand impacted my face, and sat up quickly, eyes wide. My chest seemed constricted, and I gasped for breath. As oxygen flooded my mind, I felt it clear up.

Panting, I looked at the one who had been shouting at me. He was a tall man with silver hair and what seemed to be a red visor and horns of sorts on the headset. He wore a black outfit of some form fitting cloth and a sort of strange reddish armor on his legs. For some reason, the strange way of dressing didn't seem weird in the least to me.

"Oh, good, you're awake." The man said. Another wave of energy washed over me, coming from a nearby man with green hair and a silver outfit much like the silver haired man's. "Is he healed?"

"Yes, captain." The green man said.

"Good." The silver haired 'captain' sighed. He turned back to me. "How do you feel? Are you okay?"

I couldn't respond. I didn't know who this was, where I was, or why I was sitting, covered in mud, by the flaming shell of some sort of capsule. I glanced around at the land around us. It was swampy, muddy, and rainy. The rain had drenched my hair and clothes. I looked down at myself to see the same sort of outfit as the others' only mine was a dark purple-silver and was coated in what seemed to be blood. I gasped, but couldn't put words in my mouth. What is going on?!

"Can you talk?" The 'captain' asked. "Do you know what's going on?"

I shook my head. "S-sorry..." I managed.

"Not even your name?" Captain exclaimed. "Do you at least remember our wonderful Mother?" He seemed shocked and scared at the same time.

I shook my head again, something pulling at my mind. The haze had returned in the form of a headache. _What is this guy talking about?_

"Then... Oh what should we do...? I never thought a crash from an off course landing capsule would result in memory loss..." Captain sat back and looked at me curiously. "I guess I should introduce myself then, right?" He sighed. "I am Captain Reve, leader of your squad. This is an elite military infiltration squad that was sent out for reconnaissance. You were selected to be a part of the squad due to your elite skills and abilities with techniques." He paused. "Am I going too fast?"

"No. Please continue." I muttered. Something was strange about this man.

"We are a race of elite beings called Newmans. We serve our eternal Mother Trinity in all that we do." Reve paused as murmurs of agreement came from the others who stood around in the swamp. "Here." He handed me a pair of curved daggers. "Use these to serve our glorious Mother."

The daggers seemed to sit naturally in my hands. The worn grips sat inside of an arced half-circle blade with what seemed to be a long tip on the end. My fingers found their most comfortable spot without me trying, almost as if I had held these before. I glanced up at Reve.

"They're yours." He explained. "You are one of the best fighters here." He hesitated. "Though, if you don't remember our mission... Then you can't exactly fight alongside us."

"Then what should I do?" I asked. I suddenly realized I didn't even know my name.

"Let's see..." Reve muttered under his breath for a bit, looking around at the other twelve or so of the group. He seemed to come to a conclusion. "You can do recon on a nearby town." He stated.

"Why?" I blurted out, not thinking. Then, I looked down to hide my reaction from the rudeness of the word. "S-sorry..."

"No, it's just fine." Reve said. "We are here to eliminate the pests called 'Humans'. To accomplish this task, we first need to learn about our targets." He stood, and offered his hand to help me stand up. "That will be your job, Malinar."

"Malinar?" I asked quietly. Looking around again, I realized I stood a head shorter than most others here, and two shorter than Reve himself. Everyone else seemed older as well. It slightly unnerved me.

"Yes, that's your name." Reve said. "You should head out to the first town possible and find out what the Humans are doing. Remember, we are here to protect this planet from their tyranny." He pressed a small transceiver into my palm. "Remember our Mother. Report often, alright?"

I nodded. "Yes sir."

"Your training seems to have stuck!" Reve laughed. "Now then, go ahead. We have to wait for the next squad." I nodded. "Good luck, Malinar."

"Thank you." I said. I turned the way that Reve pointed and started on my way, questions flitting through my mind. _Who am I? What's going on? Why do I feel nervous around that man?_ I pushed the thoughts from my mind and continued on my way.

* * *

**A/N: YAY~ we've now met my favorite PSZ character, Reve~ he's awesome! In any case, if you've played the game, you can guess our next stop, right? XD**

**off to the City! ^^**

**R&R for me?**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: well, I'm late... Again. -_-" sorry...**

**I don't like this chapter quite as much, to be honest. Hm... Well, not much I can do to change it Now. Also, minor swearing warning for this chappie.**

**Just so you are all warned, I don't quite stay PERFECTLY with the storyline in every little detail. I'm writing this from memory and the wiki now, cause I can't find my game. Orz **

**enjoy this pathetic excuse for a chapter~**

* * *

There. There was the town Reve had sent me to. Dairon City, was it?

I peeked over the ledge cautiously, scanning for those creatures that had attacked me earlier. Somehow, I'd managed to escape by no more than a hair. Ever since, I'd been dodging the monsters, trying to find my way through the swamp. At one point, I'd ran into a group of Humans. I'd snuck around to their camp and stolen a fresh change of clothes and some provisions. The dark cotton shirt and soft blue pants were hidden under a ragged brown cloak. I'd pulled the hood up to cover my bright silver hair, which stood out painfully in the sandy desert that I ran across no more than a day ago.

Glancing down at the bustle of the City, I spotted those creatures again. They were small, strange creatures with fangs and spines and little claws, and they were just all together disgusting. And. There. Were. A. Ton. Of. Them.

Growling under my breath, I looked up at the sun. It was low. If I stayed out too long, the BIGGER creatures would show up. Best plow through the small ones then try then attempt to kill off the larger ones. I sighed and checked the strap on my cloak. Here goes...

I ran down the hill, the worn tan cloak working to hide me in the dust I kicked up by half-sliding down the hill. It seemed I would escape notice, but then my footing slipped, and I tumbled down the remaining part of the hill, unintentionally yelping in surprise at the sudden shift in rock.

I landed in a disgruntled heap, moaning as I sat slowly. A growl made me look up, and I couldn't help but swear at the newest addition to the hunting party.

I found myself staring right into the face of a large bull-like beast that hasn't been there a few seconds ago.

"Shit!"

I tried to leap away, but the bull was faster, and he gouged my side with a sharp black horn. A last second shift of my weight made it possible to avoid completely being impaled, but the force of the blow still threw me back into the cliff with a yell.

My world went hazy for a second as black dots swarmed my vision, and they barely cleared up enough for me to dodge the next attack. Blood seeped from my wound, oozing around my hand as I tried in vain to ignore the pain of it. My other hand reached for my dagger.

The bull turned at me with a roar, and I was forced to dodge again. This time, however, I was pounced on by one of the small fox-boar things. I screamed as it bit into my right wrist, making me drop my dagger. I whipped it off, but then was faced with the bull again.

This attack hit me dead-on, and my body spasmed as the bull's long, black horns pierced through BOTH my shoulders at once. It threw me in the air, and I couldn't move anything for a second.

I occurred to me then, in that moment, that I was going to die.

It was remarkably easy to accept, looking at the facts. Reve wasn't there to save me. I couldn't possibly dodge this, and even if I did, I would certainly die in the fall. There was nothing I could do. I closed my eyes, accepting that fact. My breathing heavier, and I couldn't help but fall prey to panic, whimpering ever so slightly as I flew.

The fated moment where I reached the top of my arc came, and with it came a yell. It wasn't mine, but it was a girl's.

"HEAL!"

With the yell came a wave of energy. I felt the energy hit me, and my pain simply vanished. I didn't know how my pain vanished, I didn't know who it was that had used the technique, all I knew was that if I didn't strike back now, I would die.

This was my last chance.

I threw my weight sideways, flipping over in the air. No more than ten seconds until I hit the ground. My hand moved faster than I'd ever known I could move, and in less than a second, my dagger was in my fist, ready to strike. In no more than another second, I felt the impact. My dagger lodged itself right in the base of the bull's skull, spraying blood into my face. It's body went rigid, then the massive beast crumpled to the ground, dead.

I pulled my weapon from its neck slowly; my body ached from the impact. Turning slowly around, I saw that the other, smaller beasts were dead as well. My hand reached my head as my vision swarmed. I'd lost a lot of blood, a startled girl in a white outfit stared at me wide-eyed, and a man- who I supposed was human- lowered his large gunblade to look at me. He was the one who'd killed those other beasts. I took a tentative step forward, only to topple forward a second later. The man caught me.

"Are you alright?" The man exclaimed.

My world was swarming as I stared at my blood-coated hands. Why is my skin so red? The panic caught back up, and exhaustion hit me again as I began panting in pain.

"Sarisa!" The man shouted. "He's going into shock!"

I only heard faint scramblings as blackness took over again.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: whelp, I finally got around to updating~ can't say I have much of an excuse this time, so... Sorry! Orz I hope a double or triple update makes up for it?**

**Oh yes, and thanks to one Yuufa-san, I got a brilliant walkthrough of the Newman storyline! Thanks so much! Y'all can thank Yuufa-san for future updates. Seriously.**

**The last time we saw Mali, he was fainting... Again. XD This time, we'll meet a few more characters. I hope the PSZ crew isn't too OOC. I tried my best. In any case, I won't ramble. Lets get on with it!**

* * *

A groan escaped my lips. I'll admit, however, that it wasn't as much a groan of pain as it was annoyance. _Why do I faint so much?_ I grumbled in my head.

"Thank heavens!" A girl's voice exclaimed in relief.

"I think he'll be okay, Sarisa." This voice was a male's.

I peeled my eyes open to see a starry night sky and a concerned face of a young redhead girl.

I yelped in surprise and scurried backward. "Who are you?" I exclaimed. I immediately regretted it as pain shot through my shoulders.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!" The young girl apologized.

"You okay? You took a beating out there."

I turned to see a tall, black haired man across a fire from me. He wore some sort of yellow leather shirt and white pants tucked neatly into boots. He was sharpening a large gunblade whilst staring at me in concern.

"I'm fine..." I muttered. "Thank you." These two had to be the ones who saved me.

"You know, kid, I ain't never seen that sort of acrobatics from someone without some serious training." The man said. "Quite impressive. Care to tell us who you are?"

I stared at the man cautiously as I rubbed my horribly sore shoulder with one hand. If this is the species Reve told me about, the ones I was supposed to recon, then I should be careful. "Why should I?" I growled.

He laughed. "Well, I shoulda guessed that would be your answer!" The man stood up and reached out his hand. "Name's Kai. Nice to meet ya."

I took one glance at the hand and turned away. "Whatever."

"We'll, that isn't any way to treat the one who saved your life." Kai muttered. "I would expect some sort of 'Thank you so much for saving me from the Helio-'"

"Kaa!" The girl- Sarisa was it?- shouted, a look of realization washing over her face. "Malinar!"

"Wha-?" I gasped in unison with Kai.

"How do you know my-"

"You know him?"

I glared at Kai as I realized we both talked at the same time. We both stared at Sarisa dumbly, wondering how it was that she knew me.

Her face flushed and I could tell she'd just said something she thought she shouldn't have.

"Wait... Does this mean he's from your town, Sarisa?" Kai suddenly asked.

Our heads snapped towards Kai at the same time, the same look of surprise plastered over both of our faces.

Kai laughed at this. "Now I'm sure of it! You look like you could be siblings! Same face and all!"

Sarisa froze with her stunned face for a second or two, but quickly recovered. "Uhm... Yeah! This is Malinar. He's from my town." She paused and glanced at my daggers. "In fact, he's a top rank Hunter from my village!"

It took me a minute to recognize the lie, but I quickly nodded. "Yeah. That's right..." I hesitated. Did I really know this girl? "I think..." I finished.

"What do you mean 'I think'?" Sarisa exclaimed in surprise.

Kai glanced at me but remained silent.

"I wouldn't remember if I was." I rubbed the back of my neck. "I lost my memory..."

There was a pause. "Amnesia, huh?" Kai asked. He nodded. "Well, in that case, I won't pry anymore than this." Sarisa sighed. "Malinar, you can take a rest, I'll take first watch."

I watched as Kai continued working with his gun blade, then quietly turned to Sarisa.

"How do I know you?" I whispered.

She smiled. "We're best friends, but I suppose you wouldn't remember that, would you?" I shook my head. "I lent you a book once. It was a really good one about dragons and princesses and stuff! A real adventure story! It was really good!"

"Oh?" I muttered. I didn't remember anything of the sort, but I didn't say anything. "Maybe you can lend it to me again?"

"Definitely!" Sarisa confirmed. I couldn't help but laugh at her face. I quickly regretted it when a spark of pain shot through my shoulders, causing my face to scrunch up in what would be an ugly grimace. "Are you alright?" Sarisa exclaimed. "Heal!"

A wave of energy that was becoming oh-so-familiar lately washed over me, relieving the pain. "I think so... Thank you." I muttered.

"I'm so sorry that I can't completely get rid of those..." Sarisa muttered. "I tried my best, but I'm not good enough with healing techniques to heal such terrible wounds."

"It's okay." I said. "It only hurts when I move too much."

Sarisa's face sunk again. I barely heard her because she talked so quietly. "The problem is... We can't travel through the wild at night, and if that wound isn't treated by a high level healing technique soon, it'll be there for the rest of your life."

I felt Kai's eyes on me as I mulled Sarisa's words over. Massaging my left shoulder a bit, I came up with a response. "At least I'm not dead." Sarisa's expression of surprise made me chuckle a bit, but not so much as to disturb my shoulders again. "Having a messed up shoulder for the rest of my life is bearable compared to being dead."

Kai chuckled and interjected quickly. "He has a point, Sarisa. Now, you two had better get some sleep. We're headed to town first thing in the morning."

Sarisa sighed, and I saw the sense in the Human's words. "Night then." I said.

"Yep." Kai muttered.

I rolled over and let exhaustion take over me, pulling me into a deep sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: YAY~ LONG CHAPTER!**

**Yus, this is my second chapter today! *le gasp* In any case, I will shut up until the end. I just have two words right now: **

**Character.**

**Interaction.**

* * *

Kai woke Sarisa and I early the next morning, and I noticed the dark circles under his eyes. He obviously didn't feel like waking either of us up for a second watch.

Now I stood, stunned, in what would seem to be the Main Street of Darion City. Humans walked everywhere, and wherever Humans weren't, there were Humanoid robots of some sort. I think Kai called them CASTs. The amount of life around here wasn't the only thing that made me be planted still in the middle of the marketplace. The colors were outstanding! It seemed the City was made to resemble a rainbow, without the smooth patterns of the rainbow itself. Colors everywhere, and no pattern whatsoever to their groupings or arrangements. I had to move from my daze when a group of children ran by playing a game of some sort that included fake swords and guns. I caught the word 'Hunter' in there somewhere.

Suddenly, Kai broke down laughing. "Oh my gosh, Malinar!" He exclaimed. "Can your face get any funnier?" He wiped a tear from his eye. "You look HILARIOUS!"

I felt heat rush to my cheeks as I blushed in embarrassment. Sarisa snickered as I tried to hide it. I glared at her, and apparently my face was ridiculous, because she broke down laughing as well.

"You would think you've never seen a marketplace before!" Kai exclaimed, no longer bothering to wipe away the tears of laughter that trailed down his face.

His and Sarisa's laughter brought stares and glances from the surrounding Humans, which made me even more nervous. "WELL, EXCUSE ME FOR NOT BEING A PEOPLE PERSON!" I retaliated, my face getting even hotter as more blood rushed to my cheeks. My attempt to save some of my non-existant dignity didn't go over well, and the other two broke into a new round of laughter.

"Come on, guys! Stop it!" I wailed, trying to hide my face from outside view. "You're embarrassing me!"

After about five minutes, Kai finally got himself under control. This meant he was only shaken by the occasional laughing spurt, but for the most part remained 'sane'.

"So, you really haven't been to a market like this?" Kai managed through laughs.

"No. I haven't." I muttered, still trying to hide my face in my cloak.

He sorta stared at me like I was out of place, like I had no right to stand there and say these things. After a minute of hesitation, Kai decided to break the silence. "Well, I guess not everyone grew up in such a large city like this..." He looked at me again, his face turning a light shade of purple. "But still! Your face!" He yelped out another laugh, which quickly infected Sarisa as well. I glared at them icily and snapped my cloak forward again, bowing my head to keep my face hidden from view.

"Why are we even here in the first place?" I asked once there was a slight gap in the laughing.

Kai wiped another tear from his face. "To get you registered." He replied, chuckling.

"What?" I asked, snapping my attention to him. Bad idea. He burst out laughing (again) at the look of surprise and confusion I had on my face. Why did he think I was so weird?

"J-just like... Sar-...isa!" Kai choked out.

"HEY!" Sarisa exclaimed. "I did NOT look THAT starstruck!"

"Come on, really?" I groaned. When the two continued to laugh, I huffed and continued on my way.

After another few (dozen) laughing spurts, I managed to get information out of them about what was going on.

Apparently, we were going to the large building at the end of the street to meet the mayor of the City, a 'respectable' man by the name of Darius. Yes, like the city. Or maybe the city is like the man? Whatever the case with the name, we were going to that building, so I went. And wound up waiting several minutes for Kai and Sarisa to follow along. When they finally did get to the front of the building, Kai walked right in, and I followed.

The inside was quite remarkable, considering all I had seen so far was wasteland and a pretty cool market. The building was relatively large, and there was a passage toward the back leading to a separate room. To the right of that passage was a rounded door with a female CAST standing outside of it. To the left of the passage was a counter with two human attendants behind it. Several people were wandering about between the passage and the counters. One man with brown hair nearly spiked and a blue suit of some sort beckoned us over.

"Yo Kai!" The guy exclaimed. "Nice ta' see ya' back!"

Kai smiled. "Hey Grey! What's up?"

"Nasty Hostile cropped up out at the Ozette Wetlands. Wanna go take care of 'im for us?"

"Eh, not now." Kai jabbed a thumb my direction. "Gotta take Malinar here to see Darius."

"A new hunter?" Grey turned his gaze on me. "Anythin' like Sarisa over there?"

"Probably got some talent." Kai chuckled.

"Well, if you chose 'im, I'm all for it! You got an eye for that sorta thing! Just look at your history! Recruiting that CAST k-Night a while back, then training up miss Twill, and now Sarisa an' Malinar? You got yourself some reputation for the strong ones here!" Grey laughed, slapping me on the back. I tried not to cringe as he hit my shoulder, but failed miserably.

"Ah, don't say that. I'm just lucky to have met them before anyone else!" Kai protested.

"Nah, I think it's fate!" Grey laughed. "Or maybe it is pure dumb luck! In that case, you have to be the luckiest man alive!"

They both laughed at that, and Sarisa joined in. I didn't laugh, though. I was too focused on getting away from Grey's hand that was still on my shoulder.

"Well, I'd better get Malinar registered then." Kai said, seeing my unease.

"Ah, well then, I doubt I'll find anyone to take out that Hostile in such a short amount of time, so when you get done, go ask about it at the Quest Counter." Grey smiled and scratched his head. "Hate to admit it, but we'll have to pull out the big guns for this one."

"Yeah, will do." Kai said, his smile had faded by now, and he was obviously worried about whatever was in the Ozette wetlands.

"Well, see you later then." Grey laughed.

"Yep. Come on Malinar." Kai said.

"Thanks." I muttered as soon as we were out of earshot. There was something about this Grey that I really didn't like.

"No problem." Kai responded. "No one really likes him the first time they meet him, ain't that right Sarisa?" The redhead nodded.

"Hello, Kai. How was the last mission?"

Kai turned to a taller pink and purple female CAST who held a clipboard. "Ah, Ms. Lindow! The last mission was pretty simple, Sarisa and I flew through it."

"I suppose Grey just informed you of the Ozette issue." The CAST stated.

"He did."

"Several teams have gone, but still have been able to do nothing as of yet. Your assistance in the matter would be greatly appreciated."

Kai rubbed his neck. "Ah, sure. But first, I have us a new Hunter here to see Darius."

The CAST- Ms. Lindow- turned and looked me up and down. "What is your name?" She asked me.

"Um... Malinar." I muttered.

"What was that? My audio sensors are having issues that I must resolve shortly." Ms. Lindow said. I had a feeling she had heard perfectly.

"My name is Malinar." I repeated louder.

"Yes, Malinar. Welcome to the Darius City Hunter Guild." Lindow said. "Please continue. Mayor Darius should be waiting for your report, Kai."

"Yep." Kai waved the comment off. "Well, let's not waste time, eh?"

He immediately wandered toward the door, Sarisa right behind. I followed after receiving another glance from Lindow. Kai knocked once on the door, then barged right in, something I'm certain was not following proper human code. The room we entered into was fairly plain compared to the other things I had seen. A simple desk and some chairs along with a small cabinet and a short stocky man in a salmon colored suit. The man was balding slightly, and wore a cooky smile as he turned to greet us.

"Ah! Kai! Sarisa! I've been waiting!" The man laughed.

"Well, we're here now, Darius." Kai chuckled.

"And who would this be?" Darius asked, turning to me.

"This is Malinar." Kai said. "We found him on the way back, and Sarisa says he's a Hunter from her village, so we came here to get him registered." I couldn't help but notice the conveniently left out memory issue.

"Why, hello there Malinar!" Darius exclaimed. He clapped me on the shoulder, both at once, and I grimaced at the pain that followed. Darius just continued without pause. "It's nice to meet you! As long as you agree, I can do up the paperwork and you can jump right into duty! We've been having plenty of problems with Hostiles around here, so it would be great if you could help as soon as you can!"

"Sure." I responded silently.

Darius chuckled. "You seem like a good kid, Malinar." He turned to Kai. "Have you had time to asses him?"

Kai rubbed his neck. "The kid took out a Helios. I think he can help out a bit."

I had a lot of your help, liar. I growled mentally at Kai. Who does he think he is, making me look better than I am? Wait... Is that a bad thing?

"Impressive!" Darius exclaimed. "Last person to do that was Twill all those years ago!"

Kai chuckled. "Last year. She did that last year."

"Well then, as long as you are ready, I'll take care of the paperwork." Darius said. "I assume you heard about the issue in the Wetlands?"

"We did. Is there anything more we should know about it?" Kai asked.

"Not as of now, but it seems similar to the incident from when Twill was coming up. Only that was the Valley." Darius paused, glancing at Sarisa and I. "Well, I wish you luck then."

"Thank you, sir." Sarisa smiled.

"Sure." I muttered, turning to leave.

"Oh, Kai!" Darius suddenly exclaimed. "Did you get it?"

Kai's face lit up as if he just remembered something. He turned around and dug through his pockets. "Yeah it's right... Um... Here!" He held up a small box with some strange scent. Darius took it quickly and glanced inside. "That should be all of it."

"Why yes, it is!" Darius smiled as he closed the box quickly. "Thank you, Kai. Sarisa. The Quest Counter will have your reward ready."

"Yep. See ya later." Kai waved as we left the room. As soon as the door closed, he sighed and glanced at Sarisa. "Let's go find Twill."

Sarisa didn't smile as usual, rather she glanced at me and nodded. "Yeah. We should start at the Quest Counter."

"Good idea." Kai stated.

"Uh... Who is this 'Twill'?" I asked. And will she hit my shoulders too? Because its getting really old now.

"Oh, you'll really like her!" Sarisa exclaimed, suddenly cheery again. "Kai trained her to be a hunter! Even though she uses Twin Fires as her main weapon, she's really good with Resta spells! She's the best healer we know! Isn't that right, Kai?"

Kai seemed shocked by the suddenness of the question and sighed. "Yeah."

"What's up with you?" I asked. Not that I missed his hyper laughing side, I just wasn't used to him being so... Quiet. I mentally slapped myself for thinking that. I'm not supposed to be making friends. I should report my progress to Reve later tonight.

"Nothing." Kai muttered. "The last time I saw Twill, though, we got into a big argument. I just don't want to talk to her right now."

"You can go help at the Wetlands if you want, Kai." I offered. "Sarisa and I can go find Twill on our own."

Kai seemed to toss the offer over in his head. "Nah." He finally said. "I really should go see Twill. She might be helpful on the Wetlands mission anyway."

* * *

**Whelp that would be it for now. Long chappies will be long. It would've been twice as long, but I cut it. It was getting TOO long.**

**So, am I doing good with keeping everyone in character? Well, besides the laughing fits that there are too many of, that is. XD I don't feel like I'm doing that bad, but my opinion doesn't matter. Yours does. Please tell me what I can do to improve?**

**In any case, you have heard the names of two of my OCs already. Malinar, obviously, and Twill. What will Twill be like? You'll see. She's got a... Colorful... Personality to put it lightly.**

**anyway, until the next update!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Alright guys, long time no update, huh? I'll wait until the end to feed you my apology... right now, I'll just let you meet Twill~ XD**

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By this point, we had meandered across the large Guild building and to a long counter. It was divided in two parts. A lovely lady with blonde hair in pigtails stood on the left side, and another girl with straight cut dark brown hair stood on the right. Kai nodded to the blonde and made his way to the right side. The woman smiled.

"Welcome back Kai." She said happily. "Good to see you back from the Valley safe."

"Eh, well, we were lucky to not be noticed by Rayburn again." Kai muttered.

"Well, I have set the mission status to clear." The woman said, typing something on the small holographic screen in front of her. "Your reward will be in your Trunk."

"Thanks." Kai said.

"Who is this?" The woman said turning her attention to me. "A new Hunter for the Guild?"

"Yep." Sarisa chuckled. "This is Malinar. He's a Hunter at my town."

"Ah, well, welcome Malinar." The lady said. "My name is Kisami. I run the Quest Counter. That over there is Misami. She will run the personal counter, storing your items and the like. It is a pleasure to meet you." She bowed formally.

"It is nice to meet you too, Kisami." I bowed slightly in return.

"Well, Kai, I suppose you are heading out to the Wetlands mission now?" Kisami began typing on her holo-screen.

"Actually, I'm looking for Twill. Have you seen her?" Kai responded.

Kisami paused. "I think she's in the field right now with k-Night."

"Ah..." Kai sighed.

Kisami quickly spoke up. "If you would like, I can contact her and request her return. She should be done any time now."

"That would be great." Kai responded.

"I'll get right on it." Kisami said. She began talking to a communicator, and Kai turned around.

"What's the deal with you, Kai?" I blurted out.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Well, Grey said you trained Twill, but you don't seem to get along with her well." I muttered. Kai leaned against the Quest Counter.

"Well, see, Twill and I got into this big fight a while back. I just don't know if she's forgiven me yet." Kai muttered.

"The request has been sent, Kai. She says she'll be back shortly." Kisami mentioned.

"Thanks." Sarisa said for Kai. "We'll wait over here."

We walked toward a small hallway, and I pondered Kai's words. Finally, we reached a small column of sorts at the base of a short bridge leading to the hall. Kai leaned against one side of the obelisk shaped stone pillar, and I against another. I scoffed, and found that I couldn't help but laugh. Kai shot a glare at me.

"What?" He snapped.

I wiped a tear from my eye. "Sorry..." I muttered. "I just find it strange that you seem to be the best Hunter here, and yet you're worried about something so simple as an argument!"

Kai stared at me for a second, mouth half open and eyes wide, an eyebrow cocked curiously. He froze like that for a second, then he laughed too, his hand on his forehead and shoulders shaking gently with his laughs.

"You know, you're right Malinar." Kai chuckled. "This is so stupid. Why should I be worried about something like that?"

"Hey, they're back!" Sarisa pointed down the hall at two approaching figures.

I turned around the obelisk to see the figures, and Kai stood up instead of leaning against the pillar. A medium height human girl wearing bright red shorts and shirt came running forward with an arm in the air in greeting. A tall- and I mean TALL, as in, taller-than-Kai tall- cast followed her at a brisk walk, taking long strides on pointed feet like it was her normal speed. I would have- as much as I hate to admit it- to have jogged to keep up with the CAST who was a head taller than Kai.

"Kai!" The dark skinned human girl laughed, a bright smile infecting her face. I took note of the two stout orange guns sitting on her belt. The CAST held a long staff, but my instincts told me it had more to it than that.

"Hey Twill!" Kai chuckled. "Long time no see."

Twill smiled and turned to Sarisa. Grabbing her hand, she laughed and spun happily in a circle. "Sarisa!" Twill exclaimed. "It's so nice to see you again!"

Twill froze halfway through her spin and her eyes landed on me. I suddenly felt really uncomfortable as the girl scurried toward me with curiosity in her eyes. She grabbed my arm and spun me around, looking me up and down.

"Ooh..." She muttered. "Where'd you find him, Kai? He's pretty... And really strong lookin'! How well does he fight? Do I have to worry about him overshadowing me?"

Kai scratched his neck, embarrassed. Before he could talk, however, the CAST spoke up from behind him.

"Twill, please refrain from being so energetic around a new member of the team." The CAST's voice was marvelously human for being a machine, but there was the faintest hint of mechanical properties to the voice.

"Oh snap! I'm sorry!" Twill exclaimed, leaping back, her face going beat red. She bowed repetitively in apology. "Sorrysorrysorrysorrysorry!"

"Don't worry about it..." I muttered, rubbing my sore shoulder with a grimace.

"Oh no! I didn't hurt you, did I?" Twill exclaimed. I was pretty sure the entire population of the Hunter Guild building (numbering four besides us) was staring as she grabbed my shirt at the neck and began to do nothing less than strip it from my body to look at my shoulders. I just held back a scream as she jerked the tight fitting top off and dropped it to the ground.

"TWILL!" Kai exclaimed, unable to react fast enough. This girl was FAST.

"Oh no oh no oh no! I don't want you to be hurt! No no no! That will never do!" Twill exclaimed. I thought I heard someone snicker on the other side of the building. She spun me around to face a corner and roughly shoved me to a sitting position. Then, she chose to push me over so I was almost folded in half. Twill nearly screeched. "Kai!"

I felt her leave, so I turned around to see what was happening. Twill had spun to face Kai and was beating his chest with her puny fists. "What the hell...?" I muttered. k-Night had what could be called a peeved look on her face, as if she'd dealt with this a lot.

"Kai you big stupid meanie butt! How could you let him get hurt like that!? Why hasn't he been treated yet? Don't you know how bad a double Helios stab wound could be?" Twill shouted.

"That's why you're here. No one else could help with that kind of wound." Kai stated.

Twill froze, probably pondering the words. Her mouth and eyebrows screwed up, twisting in on themselves before she whirled around and stalked over to the obelisk pillar where she dug into a traveling bag I hadn't noticed before. She pulled out a large flask of some sort of goop and a bottle of some sort of blue liquid or something. She drank the blue liquid and tossed the delicate bottle to the ground without a glance before she spun to face me again, brandishing the flask of goop.

If there had been any chance if it, I would have tried running away.

"Turn around, let me see your back." She commanded. Before I could comply or deny, she had shoved me back down so she could inspect my shoulder. I couldn't see her, but I heard her hm and haw about the wounds. "Sarisa, you did a good job with this." She muttered.

She began to massage the goop into my skin with a delicate touch that didn't match her personality at all. I normally would be flinching at the touch of anyone, but her hands were almost calming on my back. The goop was cool and helped relieve the pain of my injuries.

"What... Is that?" I asked.

Twill chuckled, "It's a Dimate. It has simple healing properties. I would use a Trimate on it, but I don't have one." She stopped rubbing. "Hold still for one minute, alright?"

I did as she said, despite feeling extremely awkward at the situation before me. I only just realized that my shoulders had been hurting for a while now, nonstop. Maybe that's why I hadn't noticed before. It felt nice not to have the constant nagging at the back of my head about pain from the should-be-fatal wounds.

"HEAL!"

I couldn't help but shudder as several waves of energy washed over me. I have to admit, it felt really good, but it was unexplainable. I saw the green energy in the wave pass by me, and now the day-old wounds almost sparkled with the energy. I felt the holes just... Healed. All soreness faded, and when I looked at it, all that was left on my shoulders were slightly faded scars.

"Woah..." I gasped.

"Well, you gotta be careful still. The wounds are still sore." Twill lectured. She suddenly had the traveling pack again, and was shoving some Dimates in my face. "Keep these. If you get hurt, either drink them or rub them on your wound. Drinking is faster, but the rubbing helps more. I would buy armor or something to help protect them, and don't work too hard too soon. I mean, fighting is fine, but try not to get hit there though." I nodded numbly.

"Can we get his shirt back on?" Kai muttered.

Twill froze, eyes wide, and I could almost tell she was about to explode as her eyes settled on my pale chest and a deep blush spread across her face. We froze there like that, her staring and me staring back, for about a minute before she spun around (again) and buried her face in her hands.

"I'm so sorry! Sorroysorrysorrysorrysorry!" She exclaimed.

k-Night sighed and scooped up my shirt easily. It landed on my lap. "Put your clothing back on, idiot." She hissed in her half-mechanical voice. I didn't argue.

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**A/N: Alright, now this is the part where I beg forgiveness for vanishing for so long. I got distracted by a variety of Real Life things and poor Mali here was left sitting in my email where I rescued him from being deleted off my iPad a while ago. .**

**Yeah, I'm sorry guys. I'll try and be better about updates and the like. Reviews would be appreciated so I know someone is still there. ."**

**Anywho, I'm off to the next chappie~ :3**


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